Elihu nelson



(No Model.)

HNELSON.

GAR SIGNAL.

No. 555,391. Patented Feb. 25, 1896.

AN nREW B GRAHAM, PHOTD-UTMQWASHINGFON, D C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELII-IU NELSON, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

CAR-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION foiming part of Letters Patent No. 555,391, dated February25, 1896.

Application filed November 27, 1893. Serial No. 492,052. (No model.)

To (l/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELIHU NELSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Warning-Signals forStreetCars; and I do hereby declare the f0l lowing to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in alarm devices for vehicles, andmore particularly to the matter of furnishing alarms for street-carsoperating under the cable or the trolley system.

It has been found that foot-passengers in the streets of our largecities are more liable to accident from cable and trolley cars than fromcars drawn by horses. lVhile this may be partly due at present to thenovelty of street car propulsion without the aid of horses, yet it ispartly due to the fact that cable cars and trolley-cars approach moresilently and comparatively without warning, thereby overtaking thetraveler unawares, or else the alarms employed on such cars are of sucha sudden and startling nature as to unnerve and temporarily paralyze theperson who may be threatened with danger,whereby accidents are caused.This latter is especially the case with children.

It is the object of my invention to provide an alarm which shall beoperated all the time the car is moving, the sound being of such anature that it will not startle nor confuse, but will soon becomerecognized as belonging distinctively to a motor car or cable car. Aftera little the avoiding of such a car will become an instinct, just as itwas in the case of the old horse-car. I desire that the sound should notonly be free from the liability to startle the people crossing thestreet, but also not unpleasant to those living or doing business in thebuildings along the street.

this end I employ small bells under the body of the car, and I connectwith the wheels or axles of the car-truck devices for operating the saidbells whenever the car moves.

My invention will be readily understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a detail elevation of the essentialfeatures of my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively side and endviews of a cartruck having my improvements attached thereto, thestriking-arm being here shown as connected to the axle through themedium of the wheel.

The bottom of the car is indicated at A and the caraxle at B. An arm isrigidly secured to the axle either directly, as shown at I in Fig. 1, orindirectly through the medium of the car-wheel, as indicated at I inFigs. 2 and 3. A bell H is suitably supported, as by the bottom of thecar, over the axle, in such position that its clapper c' or an extensionthereof will be in the path of movement of the arm rotating with theaxle. This construction is simple and inexpensive and provides for auniform alarm that is not so rapid as to be annoying to persons in theneighborhood, the clapper being operated but once during each rotationof the axle.

lVhat I claim is A warning-signal for street-cars consisting of a bellsupported under the car-bottom over the axle, and an arm secured so asto revolve with the axle and to pass between the axle and car-bottom andadapted to come in contact with the bell-clapper or an extension thereofonce for each revolution of said axle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in the presence of twowitnesses, this 25th day of November, A. D. 1893.

. ELIHU NELSON.

Witnesses:

G. H. STOCKBRIDGE, O. L. BELCHER.

